I just returned to Guiyang after a two week visit to the USA. The trip was about 30 hours: Traverse City to Detroit 1 hr, Detroit to Shanghai 13 hours, and Shanghai to Guiyang 3 hours. Together with the layovers and delays, it added up to about 30 hours. I make it a point not to sleep too much before the flight, and the last six or eight hours of this trip went fast because I was asleep.

I watch the air ticket rates, and the rates have come down. This round trip ticket was $750, complete. I was in an overbooked situation last trip and got a $500 credit for the next flight. The entire trip cost a net of $250 after applying the credit. The flight was comfortable and the movies were quite good. The twenty minute taxi ride to my apartment cost about $7 (50 RMB).

I cast my ballot and talked to a lot of people. We talked about the politics in the USA, election process, and so on. It was a privilege to participate. More about that later . . .